Strider (Mega Drive)
|image= MegaDrive.jpg |imagewidth= 180px |caption= Japanese Cover Art |Developer= Sega |Publisher= Sega |Release Dates= Mega Drive/Genesis September 29, 1990 September 1, 1990US TX0003229607, Sega Enterprises, Ltd., "Strider.", issued February 5, 1992. 1991 Virtual Console November 15, 2011Famitsu (November 11, 2011). Virtual Console "Strider Hiryû" Confirmed Release Date & Latest Video Exhibit (Japanese). Retrieved 18 Nov 2011. February 16, 2012Capcom Unity (February 16, 2012) Wii Virtual Console Update: Strider (English). March 15, 2012 Mega Drive/Genesis Mini September 19, 2019 |Designer= Keichi YamamotoPALKO (November 11, 1993). "Strider Hiryu" (Japanese). SPEC: Sega Players Enjoy Club (7). Pg. 80-82. |Producer= |Composer= |Programmer= Keichi Yamamoto |Artist= Taro Shizuoka (graphics) Yuji Kaida (JP cover art) }} Strider (Strider Hiryû in Japan) for the Mega Drive (Genesis in the U.S.) is a port of the original coin-op game onto Sega's 16-bit system. This conversion is the most well-known port of the coin-op as well as one of its most faithful recreations, in part thanks to the Mega Drive's hardware being very similar to Capcom's CPS-1 board. Upon release, the game was considered an earlier Killer App for the system, being well received by reviewers and getting recognition from magazines of the time, most notably declared "Game of the Year 1990" by EGM."The 1991 Video Game Buyer's Guide". Electronic Gaming Monthly, issue 15. October 1990. This conversion of Strider was rereleased in late 2011/early 2012 for download through Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console shop, and was included as one of 42 pre-installed titles in the American, European and Asian versions of the Mega Drive Mini (Sega Genesis Mini), released in 2019. Story The story itself bears no actual change from the arcade and all cutscenes remain identical. However, the game's manual reveals a few extra details: Grandmaster Meio made his sudden appearance in the year 2042 and took control of the world in only 5 yearsSega (September 29, 1990; Mega Drive). Strider Hiryû (Japanese). Instruction manual, Pg. 27. Gathering all the science and technology from the Earth, he constructed his orbital satellite The Third Moon, which he decided would be his seat of powerSega (September 29, 1990; Mega Drive). Strider Hiryû (Japanese). Instruction manual, Pg. 4. Just when the world is approaching its own destruction, the Striders were called forth and assigned Hiryu the mission of eliminating Meio. Several of the backstory details from the manual were transcribed from the original art pieces created for the Arcade game, as shown in the Strider Hiryu Visual Chronicle artbook.Capcom (February 22, 2014). Strider Hiryu Visual Chronicle (Japanese). Pg. 07 The English localization of the manual expands certain bits of the backstory even more and includes some terms which are exclusive to it (for example, "Falchion", the name of Hiryu's Cypher; and "Moralos Island", the Striders' secret training location), though it changes other parts, most notably substituting 1998 for 2048. Differences from the Arcade This port is mostly faithful to the arcade original in replicating its graphics, sound and gameplay. Hiryu's whole arsenal of weapons and items remain intact, the controls are as responsive as the original, the stages are complete, and all enemies are present. Any differences are minor, such as some missing animation frames and the overall graphical quality being slightly lower and more pixelated. CPS-1 native resolution: 384 by 224. Viewable gameplay area: 384 by 224. Genesis native resoluton: 320 by 224. Viewable gameplay area: 320 by 200. (Vertical viewable gameplay area is limited by the opaque HUD.) As displayed on an arcade monitor or home television using a 4:3 aspect ratio resolution. List of Changes Gameplay= * A Continue system replaces the coin-op mechanic. Hiryu has a finite number of "Continues" that, upon reaching zero, leads to a Game Over and back to the title screen. The Japanese version, however, does not normally feature a continue system unless a secret button combination is used to access it. * Slower gameplay and progression, including noticeable slowdown and pauses. * Fewer onscreen enemies. * Alternate dynamic difficulty behavior. * Fewer difficulty levels. * Lower game difficulty. * Some objects and enemies have different score and HP allocations. * Modified enemy, object, and checkpoint placement in some areas. * The first boss fight against Solo cannot be avoided, as the stage doesn't scroll ahead until he's defeated. Similarly, Strobaya's boss battle is also unavoidable. * Cypher extension pickup does not persist across stages and its reach is longer than in the arcade version. * Hidden item boxes are dispersed across each stage, including both point and health increases, as well as an extra life. * Removal of the Tyrannosaurus enemy from the Amazon stage. |-| Performance= * Altered collision detection has also been implemented for the redrawn foreground tiles and sprites, affecting gameplay. * Lower native display resolution. * Contains exactly half of the tile graphics resolution of the arcade version in the foreground layer. * Fewer background scrolling layers. * Altered game boundary scrolling limits. * The stage layout and appearance has been modified in several areas. * The combination of a smaller gameplay viewing area coupled with an increase in sprite pop-up contribute towards a lower response time to player reaction time ratio, increasing the likelihood of perceived 'cheap deaths' by being hit by so-called 'invisible bullets', etc. * Slightly modified sprite movement and collision behavior. |-| Aesthetics= * A redesigned opaque HUD has been added. * All stage intro texts (showing the stage's name in different languages) have been removed save for the first stage ("Казахская CCP", or Kazakh SSR written in Russian), probably due to space constraints. * All the game's graphics including sprites have been redrawn, subtlety changing their appearance. Color palettes are also slightly different, with some characters having specific color differences such as Sai Pooh now wearing blue clothes instead of purple. m * The sprite for the Amazoness enemies have been edited, removing the original's nudity and the leaf that was used to partially obscure said nudity. * A large fence of bushes was added to the final section of the Amazon stage, obscuring the Brontosaurus's legs as they walk along. * When defeated, Mecha Pon shatters into pieces and each piece gets an additional "leaking oil" effect covering its surface. * Different text fonts are used during cutscenes. * Fewer frames of animation in the foreground, backgrounds and sprites. * Missing foreground and background tiles and objects. * Fewer colors. * The Invincibility powerup's after-image effect is absent; Hiryu only becomes transparent while using it. * The Wii Virtual Console version of the port replaces the original's iconic onion domed buildings from Stage 1 with generic futuristic-looking domed towers. |-| Sound= * Fewer in-game sound effects. * Lower instrument quality for music and sound effects. * Omission of the multilingual voice clips played during cutscenes. * Both the digitized speech and text localization for "All sons of old gods, die!!" are exclusively absent from the Genesis version of the port. |-| Other= * Reprogrammed game by Sega. * Sega logo appears at start-up. * An Option menu allowing the player to select a difficulty level (Easy, Medium and Hard), number of lives, and a Sound Test option containing the entire soundtrack and sound effects. * An all-new ending replaces the original. Instead of Hiryu landing on a whale, he's shown escaping the destruction of The Third Moon on his glider while the credits roll. * The word "Lord", used in the translation of the Arcade game when speaking of Grandmaster Meio, was changed to "Master" in the English version of this port. * Removal of the highscore initial-input and highscore screens. * Alternate default game attract sequences. * Single player only. * Unregistered trademark symbol on game title. |-| Credits }, Yamamoto Keichi) |- | rowspan=2 align="center"| ASSISTANT PROGRAMMER |- |MIZORAN || Matsuhide Mizoguchi ( , Mizoguchi Matsuhide) |- | rowspan=2 align="center"| CHIEF DESIGNER GRAPHIC COORDINATOR |- |TARO .S:) || Tarō Shizuoka ( , Shizuoka Tarō) |- | rowspan=3 align="center"| DESIGNER |- |SAYSHI || Atsushi Seimiya ( , Seimiya Atsushi) |- |MT.MAYA || |- | rowspan=2 align="center"| SOUND PROGRAMMER |- |XOR || |- | rowspan=2 align="center"| TOTAL COORDINATOR |- |PAL-KO❤ || |- | rowspan=9 align="center"| SPECIAL THANKS TO |- | MOMONGA MOMO || Hiroshi Momota ( , Momota Hiroshi) |- | LITTLE SUN || |- | LARIE || |- | THUNDER || |- | PANPAKAPANN || |- | FILLY || |- | THE HI MASTER || |- | colspan=2|CAPCOM ARCADE STAFF |} External Links * Official English site - Virtual Console (archived) * Official Japanese site - Virtual Console References Category:Games Category:Ports